These U.S. States Likely To Ban Abortion Without Roe V. Wade

WASHINGTON — Abortion is expected to soon be banned or severely restricted in roughly half of U.S. states following the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has protected women’s right to abortion for nearly 50 years at the federal level.

The 6-3 decision in Dobbs V. Jackson comes a month after a majority draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito Jr. was leaked, in which he wrote, "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.” The leak inspired protests and sent waves of controversy about the potential change rippling through the American people.

At least 26 states — including large swaths of the South, Midwest and Northern Plains — are certain or likely to make it nearly impossible for a woman to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research and policy group.

Abortion is already illegal or soon will be in 13 states with pre-existing trigger laws set to take effect with the dismantling of Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a subsequent case on fetal liability. Another four states are poised to ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Nine states have so-called fetal heartbeat laws that make the procedure illegal before many women know they are pregnant.

Below is a list of states set to ban or severely restrict abortion in the immediate future, according to the Guttmacher Institute:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska are also likely to ban abortion in the near future, according to the Guttmacher Institute.